Senior Eritrean Advisor Yemani Gebreab told the Sunday leading Swedish daily Aftonbladet that the government had decided to “move forward,” leaving imprisoned journalists in the eternal oblivion of indefinite detention.

Eritrean official says jailed journalists were security threat

Since a week after September 11, 2001, when the government of Eritrea threw into secret prisons journalists from its once-vibrant private press, the only certainty it has offered about the fate of the prisoners has been ambiguity. Over the years, officials have offered various explanations for the arrests—from nebulous anti-state conspiracies involving foreign intelligence to press law violations. They have even denied that the journalists themselves ever existed. From the Eritrean president to the public relations officer with the Eritrean Ministry of Information, Eritrean officials have been consistent in their refusal to disclose whether the journalists are alive or dead and their suggestion that the journalists will be held indefinitely without formal charge or trial.

On Sunday, a senior Eritrean official added to the painful uncertainty
endured by the families and colleagues of the imprisoned journalists, such as Eritrean-Swedish
journalist Dawit Isaac, by stating
that the government had decided to “move forward,” leaving the journalists and
other jailed political dissidents in the eternal oblivion of indefinite
detention.

Yemani
Gebreab, a senior adviser to Eritrean President IsaiasAfeworki, said this in an exclusive interview
with Swedish freelance journalist Donald Boström published on the website
of Sunday
leading Swedish daily Aftonbladet on Sunday. Gebreab, head of
political affairs of Eritrea’s ruling Party For Democracy and Justice, and a target
of U.S. sanctions in connection with Eritrea’s alleged involvement in
Somalia, was in Sweden attending
last week’s Eritrean
Festival, an annual fundraising and cultural event exclusive to expat
supporters of the Eritrean government.

Asked about the basis of Isaac’s imprisonment, the
59-year-old former top propagandist for Eritrea’s
guerilla liberation movement said the journalist was being held for “very
serious crimes regarding Eritrea's
national security and survival as an independent state.” Pressed for details
about the alleged crimes, Gebreab said Isaac was involved in a “conspiracy” by
a group of Eritreans “to facilitate” an invasion of the country by archfoe
neighbor Ethiopia
during the bloody border war between the two countries.

Aaron
Berhane, the exiled former editor-in-chief of Isaac’s newspaper, Setit, remembers the war period very
differently. “At that time, the Eritrean government supported the private press
by all means,” he told me, explaining that authorities gave journalists the go
ahead to move freely, and exempted them from military draft. “We never criticized
the government during that war because the Eritrean press law did not allow us
to speak on internal affairs during wartime,” Berhane said. “The government was
happy with that because we were focused on countering the Ethiopian propaganda
and mobilize people to defend the country.”

The
war simmered to it present stalemate in June 2000 and by the time the Eritrean
government carried out the September 2001 roundup of political dissidents and
editors such as Isaac, the private newspapers had shifted focus toward
scrutinizing national affairs. “Once the border conflict was over, we said we
now have to look at what’s going on in the country and when we started asking
tough questions, then the government became very upset,” Berhane said.

Isaac’s brother, Esayas,
who lives in Sweden,
had harsher words about Gebreab. “You know, these guys always come up with a new
conspiracy every year,” he said. “Last year, it was the so-called CIA
plot. This is not surprise for me or any serious Eritrean. Everyone who has
followed this case knows he’s a liar.”

Gebreab’s
comments at times did appear to be at odds with facts. “We were never given an
opportunity to express our point of view on this issue,” he claimed, adding “there’s
nothing we hide, and therefore we’re willing to communicate and express our
views.” Yet, just seconds later, when Boström asked him to give assurances as
to whether Isaac was still alive, Gebreab deflected: “I don’t think there’s any
point in discussing the specifics of the issue and I have given reason why he’s
in detention. The specifics I don’t believe are very important.”

Questioned about Eritrea’s refusal to grant Isaac a
day in court, Gebreab was equally vague. “This is a special case for us,” he
said. “For this reason, there was a deliberate decision made by the Eritrean
government and explained and discussed by the Eritrean people that this was the
best way for us to go.”

He justified the Eritrean policy by saying, “We can talk
about many, many countries over the past decade or so, especially after the
events of 9/11. Many countries have held people they felt were a serious threat
to their security.” He went on: “So I don't think it's fair to accuse Eritrea on this point and I don't believe that
many of those who accuse Eritrea
on this issue really have the moral high ground to accuse Eritrea on this issue.”

While
Eritrea is among the
few nations as diverse as Iran and the United States who have detained journalists for
prolonged periods without charge or trial, the Red Sea nation stands out as the
only country to maintain that the condition of the journalists is a state
secret while denying them due process. Some of the imprisoned journalists are
believed to have died in custody, including Fessehaye ”Joshua”Yohannes.

Perhaps
it’s not surprising then that Gebreab should ask: “Can’t Swedish
media find something positive to say about Eritrea?”

Mohamed Keita is advocacy coordinator for CPJ's Africa Program. Keita has written about independent journalism and development in sub-Saharan Africa for publications including The New York Times and Africa Review, and has appeared on NPR, the BBC, Al-Jazeera, and Radio France Internationale. Keita has also given presentations on press freedom at the World Bank, U.S. State Department, and universities. Follow him on Twitter: @africamedia_CPJ.

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Reluctant activist: A brother’s struggle to free Dawit Isaac

May 25, 2010 2:12 PM ET

In 2001, Eritrean security forces imprisoned Eritrean-Swedish journalist Dawit Isaac along with nine other journalists without trial in September 2001. The arrests effectively shut down the nation’s fledgling independent press and any potential political dissent prior to scheduled December 2001 elections, which were subsequently cancelled. To this day, Dawit...